Image Credit: Michael Becker/Fox
It’s only been a week since we learned that Pia Toscano—the American Idol contestant whose ninth-place finish caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the judges and fans—had in fact scored a long-rumored record deal with Interscope.
But thanks to Ryan Seacrest’s radio show and the ever-impatient Internet, we can already listen to the debut single from season 10′s cause célèbre. Check it out here:
On “This Time,” the 22-year-old vocal powerhouse underplays her Celine-styled glory notes and delivers a wistful ballad about finding empowerment after heartbreak—it’s a melancholy yet resolute statement of self-worth that Pia adroitly inhabits with her full-bodied voice.
In short, it’s the kind of tune we can expect to hear Rachel Berry singing the next time Finn screws up: Sad, relatable, and a touch awe-inspiring.
Readers, do you agree?
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I’d love to hear something different then all the ballads she does.
For what it’s worth, that’s pretty much what the judges said…then she got eliminated the following week.
Maybe she was comfortable with singing ballads the time she competed. She didn’t want to do anything trendy or uptempo dance pop like Lady Gaga or something. So she stayed in her zone. I thought she was good, but she tended to do nearly the same kind of ballad, as if hit pop musicians and songwriters David Foster and Diane Warren were near the stage to hear her sing the final product. And then scream “Perfect!” after the performance.
Yawn – this auto-tuned bore-fest should do well on a country station, but I don’t see this song burning up the charts at all.
Though I think the song is nothing original. Rather boring, but there is no autotune in this song. She has a great voice. Needs a better song.
I wouldn’t buy this single. Good thing it was posted. Celine Deon might have done this one better. Nothing really special about this. Unless it’s partnered with a great video, it probably will sit there.
meh, didn’t like her on the show, still don’t like her now, not impressed with this first song
Lame…not bad but really not anything new or interesting.
I like the song!!
Pretty cookie cutter if you ask me. Nothing special there…
Loved the comment at the end of the post about it being a song that Rachel Berry would sing, totally on point.
Totally. And I’m not saying she has a bad voice or anything…but for me personally, her vibrato in this song is kind of grating and unpleasant, and she’s stretching to belt those higher notes and that also sounds unpleasant. So…I’m not a fan of this. But I never really liked Pia as a singer/performer, so I’m not too surprised that I don’t really like this song.
I don’t like her vibrato either. It’s too fast for my taste.
paint by numbers power ballad with all the over sung shmaltz AI is (in)famous for.
It’s not hugely original, but it’s a lot better than most of the junk you hear on the radio these days. I’m kind of surprised it’s so country-ish, though. Interesting. She’s super-talented, so good luck to her!
I’m not crazy about it. Sounds like Jordin Sparks’ “Tattoo” and she even sounds like Jordan herself. Weird.
Christian: I was thinking the exact same thing! Switch out the lyrics and you have Tattoo!
Very Jordin Sparks sounding
I think it’s more Jordan+Shakira
Why does she screach? Like nails on a chalkboard. Yelling, reaching to hit notes, gawd-awful.
how dull
Like your post. And your life.
Wow, someone needs to grow up and learn that different people have different opinion. Moron.
Wow, it’s a ballad! What a surprise!
I will take this over Scotty any day!
I’ll take this over Haley any day..
Yea, this isn’t the best song ever but I love the artist. Much better then anything Scotty or Haley!
I’ll take this over Scotty any day, on the real. Though… it’s so predictable it’s pretty boring. Can’t wait for Haley’s debut single. You crayzee, TxJessie. Crayzee.
Amen wildflower.
Gorgeous woman, stunning voice, zero charisma, dull,generic, paint-by-numbers ballad cut from the same cloth as “Irreplaceable” and “Tattoo”.
haha! zero charisma..so true..the girl can sing though
Like her voice, but the chorus sounds like “No Air” by Jordin Sparks.
Maybe the musicians and producers who made the song didn’t think about another song when they recorded it, let along the Jordin Sparks chorus song mention. They just did the song as it is. But sometimes familiarity helps in pop songs, and you can’t help hearing the comparisons with Pia’s new song from others out there.